Day 6, Friday,
May 05, 2017…Cinco de Mayo
The alarm
sounded at 6:30 AM and we got up, got dressed and went to have breakfast. Ken and I were the first to arrive. We served ourselves our breakfast and the
others started to trickle in. After
Chuck arrived and had breakfast, we asked what the plans for today were. Jan and I told Chuck that the best thing to
do for C.E. is to spend another night here.
That way, Chuck could tell C.E. to get on US 77, turn east onto I-80 and
ride to the hotel. That would be the
easiest for all. We could go to the
National Motorcycle Museum, tour the place and come back and meet C.E. Chuck was good with that. We left at 8:44 AM.
I was now in
the lead. Jan was next, then Ken, Jake,
J.B. and Chuck. We headed north from the
Hotel on 1st Ave N. After we
crossed over I-80, the street name changed to NE 72nd Street. We rode north to US 65 and we headed
eastbound. It was clear skies and a nice
road to ride past a lot of farmland. We then changed to US 30. After riding for a while, there were no gas
stations that we could stop at to have a pit stop. We continued for 106 miles and at 10:20 AM,
we stopped at a Phillips 66 gas station in Cedar Rapids for a much needed pit
stop. This was the first place that we
could stop and I wasn’t going to pass it.
We took care of the necessary business and Chuck, Jake and J.B. had
coffee. I hate those guys! I feel so
left out. We were done and ready to
continue. We left at 10:51 AM.
We continued
on US 30 for about 15 miles and then onto US 1, northbound. We rode for another 12 miles and changed to
US 151. This was a short leg. We rode for 5 miles and reached our
destination at 11:26 AM…The National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, IA. Right in front of the building was a large
area designated for “Motorcycle Parking Only.”
After we parked, we all felt like we were in Heaven. Right next door to the Museum was a…wait for
it…SUBWAY! Can you picture it…birds
chirping, world peace and a Heavenly Choir singing? We went in and toured the Museum. It had a lot of Vintage Motorcycles of all
makes. They also had Motorcycles that
were featured in movies, like: The Great
Escape and Easy Rider. This was a good place
to see. We enjoyed the Motorcycles and
took plenty of pictures. At about 12:15
PM, we went next door to Subway and had lunch.
After lunch, Ken and I stayed in the Subway while the rest went back
into the Museum. After about 45 minutes,
the Guys came out and it was time to leave.
Chuck told the Group that C.E. had texted that he was already on his way
to the Hotel because his Motor was fixed.
Everything was working as it should.
We decided that we would go back the same way we came. We wanted to stay off of I-80. We left at 2:25 PM.
I led the
Group back onto US 151, then US 1 and back to US 30. After riding for 36 miles, we stopped in
Cedar Rapids at 3:00 PM at the Phillips 66 station. We gassed up because we would have run out of
gas. There were no gas stations that I
saw between Cedar Rapids and the Hotel.
We left at 3:19 PM.
It was now
Chuck’s turn to lead. I gave him a rundown
of the directions we needed to go to get back to the Hotel. Chuck led the Group, followed by Ken, J.B.,
Jan, Jake and Me. We got back on US 30
and headed west. We rode for about 80 or
so miles and then onto US 65. The ride
seemed to go by much quicker. We rode by
to the Hotel the back way and arrived at 5:12 PM, after riding 118 miles.
When we
arrived, we noticed a familiar Trike parked in the parking lot. It was C.E.’s! We went inside and found him in his room that
we had reserved for him. Tonight, he and
Chuck were roommates. We welcomed him
back to the Group. We went to the
breakfast room and he told us the story of his stay in Roca, while they fixed
his Motor. With C.E. back, our Group was
complete.
We talked
about dinner. Since it is Cinco de Mayo,
we decided to go to a Mexican Food Restaurant.
We rode to the restaurant and saw that there was a huge line waiting to
get in. We decided to go next door to
Applebee’s. After dinner, we returned to
the Hotel where we parked our Motors and tucked them in for the night.
I wasn’t
with the guys after we returned to the Hotel.
They went to the Hot Tub. One of
my cousins came to visit me. She lives
in Des Moines. I have never met her and
it was great to finally meet her. We
have conversed on Facebook. I’m sure
that the guys talked about where we were headed tomorrow. I guess I will find out tomorrow morning at
breakfast. We shall see…
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